Tuscarawas County could be split in congressional redistricting

Tuscarawas, now solely represented by U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, would be split between Gibbs and Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, whose new 6th District also would include all of Carroll and Harrison counties.

Times Reporter

Writer

Posted Sep. 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 14, 2011 at 2:04 PM

Posted Sep. 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 14, 2011 at 2:04 PM

Tuscarawas County could be split between two U.S. congressional districts starting in 2012 if a plan unveiled Tuesday is passed in the Ohio Legislature.

Tuscarawas, now solely represented by U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, would be split between Gibbs and Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, whose new 6th District also would include all of Carroll and Harrison counties.

Gibbs’ district would include all of Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes and Knox counties, and parts of Erie, Huron, Lorain, Medina, Stark and Tuscarawas counties. It will be numbered the 7th District.

Preliminary indications are that Tuscarawas County would be split along boundaries of townships.

That would mean that Dennison and Uhrichsville would be in District 6, while Dover, New Philadelphia, Strasburg and Sugarcreek would be in District 7.

“While the congressional district lines may have changed, my goals remain the same: putting Ohioans back to work, reining in government bureaucracy, and stopping the out-of-control Washington spending spree,” Gibbs said Tuesday.

“A good portion of the new district encompasses areas that I have previously represented in the Ohio Senate, as well as a few new communities and counties.”

Gibbs said that politics aside, he plans to ensure the people in his district have a strong voice in congress.

“Ohio’s congressional delegation has a long-standing tradition of working together to move our great state forward, regardless of party affiliation or congressional district boundaries,” he added. “I will continue to work with our entire congressional delegation to give Ohio a powerful voice in Washington and to fight to bring jobs back to Ohio.”

Johnson is a freshman congressman, elected in 2010.

The proposal is now in the State Government and Elections Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives, which met Tuesday. The committee is to meet again today, and is expected to submit a redistricting proposal for discussion on the House floor Thursday. If the House passes the proposal, it would go to the state Senate.

Al Landis, R-Dover, said Tuesday that because he was at meetings in the 96th District, he was unable to view the map in detail but planned to do so Tuesday night.

“Hopefully, on Thursday we’ll get to see the final map that comes out of committee,” he said. “I want to see the map and hear the reasoning behind why Tuscarawas County would be split. I want assurances that Tuscarawas County would not become lost in congress.”

Tuscarawas County Republican Party Chairman Doug Wills said, “I’m disappointed that Tuscarawas County has been split into two congressional Districts. I saw a rough draft, which has changed dramatically. I want to talk to Congressman Gibbs to get a better understanding of this.”

Page 2 of 2 -
Martha Campbell, chair of the Tuscarawas County Democratic Party Central Committee, said that the Southeastern part of the county “could end up being better served” because it would be in a district with similar economic and social issues found in the Appalachian region on a daily basis.

“We’ve all lost industrial jobs and it seems to be harder to bounce back,” she said.

However, putting northern Tuscarawas County in with “borderline large cities would be very much a disadvantage to that part of our county.”

To Campbell’s knowledge, splitting the county for representation in Congress would be a first.

“We’ve been fortunate that when the county has been divided at the state Legislature level, we’ve had two people working for the interests of our entire county,” Campbell said. “I don’t know if that luxury would exist for a congressional district, because it might only seem to be a small part of an overall district.”

Redistricting is required because Ohio is losing two congressional seats because its population is not rising as fast as the rest of the country.

The lines will remain in place for the next decade.

A move by the National Republican Congressional Committee in Washington signaled that the new map might not be all positive for its Republican candidates, though. The committee, which oversees GOP congressional campaign strategy, named three Ohio representatives – Gibbs, Johnson and Rep. Jim Renacci, who represents the 16th district, which currently includes Stark County – to its Patriot Program. That effort directs contributions to GOP incumbents considered vulnerable.